Better Together
by LGCoffeeAddict
Summary: Feeling oddly possessive, he knocked on the door frame and announced his presence ... The woman straightened from the warmer. Alex's mouth went dry when he saw the woman's face: heavy-lidded pale blue eyes and a gorgeous smile that only a few got to see.
1. Chapter 1

Better Together

A **Grey's Anatomy** fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Chapter 1: She Was Right

**A/N: Apparently, all my story ideas happen while I'm trying to take a nap. I just watched this week's episode of Grey's, and the scene between Bailey and Alex gave me an idea for a good starting part for a fic. I changed some of Bailey's dialogue, but a lot of it is along the same lines.**

She was such a tiny little baby, so frail, so near death, but she was doing so much better since Alex Karev started holding her. And so...he kept holding her.

His marriage had fallen apart and died quickly, and that wasn't something he could save just by holding Izzie. But he _could_ save this little girl just by holding her against his bare chest. Feeling her faint heartbeat against his own made Alex forget that Izzie had left divorce papers among her medical bills, and it made him remember what attracted him so much to the neonatal specialty.

Or rather _who_ had attracted him to neonate.

Alex shook her head. No, he couldn't think of her. He was supposed to be mourning the death of his marriage to a tall, beautiful blonde woman with a ready laugh and bright smile, not mourning his lost opportunity to be with a tall, beautiful redhead with a gorgeous smile that only a lucky select few got to witness.

Why did women keep leaving him? Ava—Rebecca—went back to her husband; Izzie blamed him for her getting fired and asked for a divorce; and _she_ left Seattle because he, the idiot that he was, thought he was in love with Ava.

Okay, so that might not have been the only reason, but it was the only reason that mattered to him. If he hadn't been such a moron, it might have been enough to make her stay in Seattle.

Focusing on the baby in his arms once again, Alex tried to push all thoughts relating to his love life out of his head, but he could tell Reed was starting to get attached to him, despite his best efforts to drive her away. There was only one woman who he had initially hated and picked fights with before falling deeper and deeper into her pale blue eyes...only one woman who could ever get him to change his mind about her.

_Stop that_, he ordered himself, stroking the baby's head with his thumb.

"Addison was smart to trap you in her specialty." Alex whipped his head up at the mention of his former boss' name. Standing above him was none other than Miranda Bailey, his old resident and new attending.

"I'm sorry?" he asked softly, not wanting to wake up the baby.

Bailey smiled fondly at Alex taking care of the pre-me, marveling at how much he'd grown since she first met him. "You're invested in your patients, and you've got good instincts that you follow. With babies like this little one, you did the right thing by following your instincts. You would have done well following in Addison's footsteps."

"Would have?" He picked up the wistfulness and slight regret tinging Bailey's voice. "I won't anymore?"

"Well, it's not like she's here anymore for you to learn from," Bailey explained. "Just Dr. Robbins, but you would do well in peds, too, I guess." She reached out and gently squeezed his shoulder in encouragement before walking over to treat her own tiny patient, leaving a contemplative Alex in her wake.

**8D**

"I'm telling you, Addison, you taught him well," Bailey insisted on her phone as she walked toward her car. "I honestly think he's going to end up in neonate."

On the other side of the line in Santa Monica, Addison Montgomery sat on her couch, sipping wine and petting her new cat. She smiled into her glass when Miranda told her that she'd had such an impact on the previously insufferable intern. "So I take it Richard finally filled my position? After what, a year?"

Closing her car door behind her, Miranda locked the doors and dropped her keys in her lap, pausing briefly before answering. "Not exactly."

"What do you mean?" Milo started crawling up Addison's body, his little paws reaching for her now short red hair. Her hair was his favorite cat toy.

"The only reason we even have any sort of organization in the OB/GYN wing is because of the merger with Mercy West, and their OB/GYN attending is bad enough that we wonder how he even passed his boards. The Chief has pretty much depended on Dr. Robbins for neonatal surgeries since you left, and she's nowhere near as good as you," Miranda expounded, taking a deep, cleansing breath when she'd finished. She'd needed to say those things for a while now, but this was the first time she'd talked to Addison in about a month, they'd both been so busy.

"Who is this attending?" Addison's clear cerulean eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Dr. Warren," Miranda supplied. Her eyebrows shot upward when she heard the scoff of disgust from the other doctor.

"Every time I was within fifty feet of that man, he constantly made passes at me. He even pinched my butt a few times, and he's married!" Addison declared with a shiver. "I've never seen a patient of his that was comfortable being in a room alone with him. How the hell is Karev going to learn anything from him?"

Bailey was still sitting in her car when she saw Alex exit the hospital, carrying an ominous file with a somber expression on his face. "To be honest, I think he's got other problems on his mind right now."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that Izzie Stevens left him with a pile of medical bills and divorce papers, which she already signed."

Addison almost dropped her glass of wine in shock. "You have got to be kidding me," she exhaled. It sounded lame even to her ears, but what the hell was she supposed to say to that?

"I feel so bad for him. He stayed with her throughout all the cancer treatments, all the chemo, and this is how she repays him?" Bailey shook her head, still reeling from it all. "I always liked Izzie, even if her emotions were a handful. She was kind, you know? I never thought she'd be so cruel."

"Poor Al—Karev," Addison sighed, catching herself before she slipped up. He was always Karev, and even this shouldn't change that. "I'm surprised he's still standing. When Derek and I were going through that I had to hide in supply closets every day during my lunch break so nobody would see me cry."

Miranda bit her lip in consideration for a moment. "You should tell him that," she suggested finally.

Now Addison's eyebrows were the ones that shot up. "What? How? It's not like we've talked at all since I left," she pointed out. "Calling him up randomly and telling him I know what he's going through would just make him feel about ten times worse. Trust me, I know."

"Addison, will you just get some common sense for once?" Bailey snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"You need to come back here, at least for a little while."

"I feel like I've asked this way too many times tonight, but what do you mean? Why?" Addison's eyes flitted toward Milo, who was currently curled up on her lap.

"Aside from the fact that we all really miss and need you here, are you actually happier in LA than you were in Seattle?" Miranda hated having to go about it this way, but she needed to make her friend see that her life didn't get any easier by leaving Seattle behind.

Addison paused. There was absolutely no way she could answer that positively without lying. The truth was that she _wasn't_ happier. Every day that passed just made her more anxious that she was going to end up dying alone, surrounded by her many cats. Milo was just the first one. She hated what she'd done with Noah, and she hated that she hurt so badly after that. It wasn't even like they even had a relationship, because they didn't. It had just been so long since someone had looked at her like he did that she thought she was in love with him. She wasn't, but it still hurt when she pushed him back to his wife. "How long should I go?" she queried after a few moments of silence.

"Longer than you usually stay, definitely," Miranda responded quickly. "Long enough for you to distance yourself from all that's happened down there so you can actually have a chance at being happy when you go back."

"And how long would that be?" She swirled the wine in her glass, watching the remnants of the alcohol slowly drift down the glass to join the rest of the liquid.

"I think a month at the very least."

Addison almost dropped her wine again. "A month? That's crazy! I can't take off work for a month."

"Come on, Addison. You know the Chief will be more than happy to give you the OB/GYN wing for however long you stay, and you know he'll do everything he possibly can to keep you busy enough for you to stay for good. You need this, and your friends need this."

"Which friends?" Addison countered morosely. "Everybody there hates me."

"Snap out of it, Addison!" Bailey ordered. "There's me and Callie, and you need to talk to Alex. You know what he's going through, and you can teach him again, give him something else to focus on."

Setting down her wine glass, Addison scratched Milo's ears tentatively. "A month?"

"A month," Bailey confirmed, inserting her key into the slot and starting the ignition.

"Okay."

**8D**

Alex walked into the NICU two days later (he'd gotten an extra day off since he'd stayed up with the baby for two nights in a row) and saw another doctor bending over the little girl he'd looked after, Amy.

Feeling oddly possessive, he knocked on the door frame and announced his presence. "Is there anything concerning my patient that you needed so urgently that you couldn't wait to consult her doctor?" The woman straightened from the warmer—enough for Alex to see a flash of short red hair—and turned to look over her shoulder.

Alex's mouth went dry when he saw the woman's face, complete with heavy-lidded pale blue eyes and a gorgeous smile that only a select few got to see. "Hello, Dr. Karev," Addison smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

"D-Dr. Montgomery," he stuttered in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Despite himself, he let his eyes roam over her flawless body, taking in the slight tan and shorter hair as the only real changes in her...and her eyes. They carried more pain, more anxiety than before.

Addison's smile grew when she saw her effect on him. It was nice to know she could still do that to men, even if she knew nothing could happen. "I'm taking over the OB/GYN wing for a month, until I can find a replacement."

"But what about Dr. Warren?"

Addison grimaced. "Don't even get me started on that scumbag. He makes every patient uncomfortable, and his surgery skills are definitely sub-par to say the least. My point is that Richard still can't bring himself to replace me, and it's been over a year, so it falls to me to find a suitable attending." She cocked her head to the side when she saw a tiny glimmer of hope spark in Alex's russet eyes. "Besides, I needed a vacation."

"This is your idea of a vacation?" Alex scoffed. "I had you pegged for someone who would leap at the chance to lounge on a beach."

Addison laughed softly, a sound that had not fell upon Alex's ears in over a year. "Normally I would, but now I live right on the beach so that isn't really a vacation for me anymore. Right now, a vacation is being nothing but a surgeon for a month."

"That's a long time, though," Alex continued, trying to figure it all out in his mind. "Are you sure you can be away from your practice that long?"

Oh. Maybe she'd misread the hope in his eyes. It might have been hope for the fact that her finding a replacement would mean she wouldn't be coming up to visit nearly as often, not hope to work with her for a month. He was making it all too clear that he wanted her to go back to LA as soon as possible. Addison wished she didn't have to try to stamp down the disappointment that had risen in her stomach all of a sudden. "Yes, I am," she answered curtly. She dropped her eyes from his to the chart she was holding on baby Amy Brickman. "You did a good job with this little girl, Karev. I'm glad to see Dr. Robbins has kept you busy." Making her way out of the NICU, she handed him the chart as she passed him. "I'll see you around, Dr. Karev."

She had almost made it completely out of the room when Alex grabbed her softly by the elbow. "Wait, Dr. Montgomery. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to learn from you again," he declared, pleading apparent in his eyes.

Ignoring his touch as much as she could, Addison quirked an eyebrow at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah," Alex started to laugh it off. "It turns out you were the most stable of the attendings. Burke left. Shepherd had a breakdown. Hunt almost strangled Christina, and Robbins is way too cheerful for my taste."

"What about Dr. Torres?" Addison reminded him, smiling. He was trying to weasel his way out of admitting he enjoyed OB/GYN, but there was no way in hell she was going to let him.

"She's pretty much being stalked by a couple of Mercy West-ers," Alex supplied. "I just need something to be normal again, how it used to be."

"You need something familiar," Addison observed. He nodded slowly, wondering at the tone in her voice. "That's why I chose to come here for my vacation instead of a beach, Karev. Come on, we've got rounds."

**A/N: So what do you think? I actually almost made this longer, and then I looked at the page count and realized I had written almost five complete pages. I figured that was enough to get it started, because I actually have a lot of crap to do, including college and scholarship applications and AP Chem, AP Calc and AP Lit...and college physics. Why do I do this to myself? You know what might just keep me from suffocating under all this pressure? REVIEWS!**


	2. Back in the Swing of Things

Better Together

A **Grey's Anatomy** fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Chapter 2: Back in the Swing of Things

**A/N: I'm updating out of order, I know, but I really need some Addex-happiness right now, and I don't feel like writing a one-shot. My mood (and severe lack of energy due to the cold from **_**Hell**_**) just isn't up for the fluffiness today. I needed some serious Addison and Alex familiarity, so I figured I might as well actually update a chapter fic rather than write an entirely new one-shot. Enjoy!**

There were very few things from Alex's past that he actually missed, but among those very few were the sound of high heels clicking on the tile floor, the sight of red hair in the morning, the smell of vanilla lattes and the light, fluttering feeling in his chest every time he got within two feet of his boss. (There was one more thing from Alex's past that he missed, one that involved taste, but that would have broken the tentative friendship pact they'd made, and it probably would lead to even more inappropriate memories.)

Dr. Montgomery—he always called her that, no matter how often he'd said her first name in his mind—was walking ahead of him in the hallway, allowing Alex to savor the return of the past memories he'd come to miss dearly—the sound, the sight, the smell, the light, fluttering feeling in his chest.

_Congratulations, Karev_, he mocked himself. _You've officially become a chick._

Aside from the shortened hair, within hours, Addison had managed to make it seem like she'd never left, a fact which Alex greatly appreciated. He needed things to go back to three years ago. Among other things, he didn't have divorce papers to deal with back then.

As he followed Addison toward their first "grown-up" patient (they'd been attending to the preemies all morning), Alex realized something. He hadn't simply missed the sound of her heels or the smell of vanilla lattes. He hadn't just missed the sight of her red hair or the giddy feeling she gave him. He missed _her_.

_Seriously, Karev,_ he continued. _You are a chick who belongs on a couch with someone with a deep knowledge of Freud._

**8D**

As surprising as it was, Addison was genuinely enjoying her time back in Seattle. She missed being a kick-ass surgeon and nothing else. She missed working in a hospital, but she was always quick to get back in the swing of things. In a few short hours, she had already rewired the hospital into her brain—she hadn't forgotten a thing about Seattle Grace.

"Karev," she called over her shoulder from where she stood at the nurses' station. Alex lifted his head from the chart he was reading and walked over to her. She handed him a lab order form. "Run this to the lab and come find me when you get the results."

"Where will you be?" Alex asked, noting the intent behind her voice.

"Well, right now, I'm about to go see Richard, but if I'm not there when those are done, I'll be down in the cafeteria," Addison informed him readily. Her eyes were still on the counter in front of her as she filled out another lab order form. "Run this one, too, please." She finally looked up at him and shot him a small smile. "It's nice to have you assisting me again, Karev."

Alex couldn't help the smile that came to his face when she said that, and he couldn't wipe that smile off the entire way to the lab.

**8D**

Addison was concerned.

She sat in a chair across from the Chief, scrutinizing his every move. Was he sluggish? Were his words slurring? Were his eyes sliding in and out of focus?

Meredith had approached her on her way to Richard's office and relayed her worries about him. She told Addison about the botched surgery, about him stepping away from the OR to teach Meredith, about the eggnog at the Christmas party, about Thatcher's warning.

"Derek is worried about him," Meredith had insisted. "I don't want him to do anything to help the Chief that'll make him hate Derek." When Addison asked her what she was talking about, the blonde stepped in closer and lowered her voice, "The board wants to fire Richard, and they asked Derek to step in as the new Chief of Surgery. If they find out that he's relapsed, they'll jump on him with all they've got."

Addison hadn't been able to do anything but blink at that statement. It was three years ago again, only now the race for Chief was between her ex-husband and, well, the Chief. But that wasn't what worried Addison. This man was like her father, and if he was back in the bottle again…

_The first time was hard enough_, Addison thought to herself, continuing to examine the Chief from her spot across from him.

"Addie?" Richard waved a hand in front of her face, jolting her from her catatonic stupor. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she waved it off. Straightening in her chair, Addison leaned forward slightly and locked eyes with the Chief. "Are you, though? Are you—are you sad, Richard?"

Confusion swam in Richard's currently sober eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Meredith told me about the eggnog, Richard," she admitted gravely, refusing to break eye contact even when he seemed to want to. "She didn't mean anything by telling me, but it worries me to hear that you might be drinking again."

Richard shook his head. "No, that was just a one-time thing," he denied. "It was Christmas, everyone was having a drink. It would have been depressing to remind people why I wasn't having one."

Addison tilted her head and kept her knowing gaze on him. "That's just an excuse, and you know it," she admonished. "It's never just a one-time thing, Richard."

"So what do you suggest I do, Addison?" he demanded with a hint of anger in his voice. "Go to rehab? The board already wants me out; this will just give them an excuse!"

"Then don't go to rehab," Addison urged. She reached out and took his hand in hers. "Call me whenever you feel like you're going to drink. I'll be here to keep you distracted, and if I need to, I'll extend my vacation." She gave his hand a squeeze and brought his eyes back to hers. "I just want to see you better, Richard. Please, let me help."

All the fight left the Chief's body at the soft reassurance in his star student's voice. He slumped over and slowly nodded his head. "Okay."

**8D**

Addison never made it to the cafeteria. After she left the Chief's office, she sunk down against the glass lining the indoor bridge of the hospital that lead to and from Richard's office. She'd been going so fast all day that she hadn't realized how tired she was. She was no longer used to the rain, and she wasn't expecting to break Richard's habit once again.

_Last time was definitely difficult enough,_ Addison mused once again.

A pair of light-blue-clad legs directly in front of her face broke Addison out of her reverie. She looked up to see a confused Alex Karev staring down at her. "What are you doing on the floor?" he asked, puzzled.

"I'm assuming you got the lab results back?" she countered smoothly, ignoring his question while simultaneously grabbing his proffered hand to help her up.

"Yeah, they're normal, so she'll be ready to be discharged tomorrow," he answered. He no longer followed in her high-heeled footsteps, but rather alongside her. He handed her the lab results and pretended he didn't notice the miniscule flare of heat that flashed through his fingers when they brushed hers. He also pretended that the fact that they were occasionally bumping arms was a complete accident—but she didn't seem to mind.

"What about our other patient?" Alex had impeccable timing, in Addison's mind. He gave her the opportunity to temporarily forget about what was going on with her surrogate father and focus on work.

Alex passed her the other lab sheet. "Everything's normal with her, too. I went ahead and scheduled her for surgery tomorrow and told the nurse to restrict her from food," he declared confidently.

"Good, good, that just lightened up our workload," Addison concluded miserably. A lighter workload meant that her mind would inevitably wander back to Richard's problem.

"Why don't you sound happy about that?" Alex questioned. They walked off the "bridge" and into the normal hallway, and a shadow fell over his boss's face. "Did I do something wrong?"

Shaking her head, Addison ran a hand through her crimson locks. "No, you're fine. It's just that now we don't have anything to do, and I could really use something to do right about now."

"Why?" Addison stopped walking and waited patiently for Alex to realize she had done so. He proceeded to walk another couple of steps before he turned around to see Addison's calculating stare upon him. "What?" She seemed to be debating whether or not to confide in him.

"I'll tell you if you come to Joe's with me." It took everything Alex had in him not to let his jaw drop. She hadn't just asked him out, had she? His shock must have shown on his face, because she quickly amended herself. "I need to run an errand, and I might eventually need your help with this."

Oh. So she wasn't asking him out. It would have been weird anyway, considering she'd been back for less than a day. Also, it was the middle of the workday, so she obviously wasn't going there to drink. _Slow down, tiger,_ he mentally reprimanded. _You don't even know if you like her yet. You _are_ in the middle of a divorce._ A small part of him wanted to point out that she had been, too, three years ago. "Sure, I guess."

Ten minutes later, Addison and Alex were making their way out of the hospital. Once they'd crossed the street and stood at the threshold of the Emerald City Bar, Addison drew him to the side and sat him down on a bench. "I'm going to tell you now, because I don't want you to be confused when I ask Joe to do something, okay?" Intrigued, Alex nodded. "When I was an intern, Richard was my resident," she began.

"The Chief was your resident?" Alex interrupted. She nodded impatiently. "No wonder you're his favorite." That earned him a look. "Sorry, go on."

"Yeah, Derek and I were his interns, along with some of my friends down in LA. But that's not the point. Richard and I were close, very close."

Alex interrupted once more. "You weren't…" If she had, he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to look at Addison the same way again.

Addison gasped and slapped him. "_No_, I wasn't! By 'close,' I meant he was like a second _father_ to me, and I was like his _daughter_. Are you following me now?" Alex nodded. His face, he realized, was matching hers; they were both blushing like mad. "Anyway, I knew about the affair he had with Ellis Grey, and I knew how bad he was after he left her."

"What do you mean by bad?" Alex queried.

"I mean he got a little too friendly with alcohol," Addison finally divulged with a sigh. Alex's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "It took him almost a year to become sober, and now he's relapsed. I'm trying to keep it from becoming a problem that could cost him his job, which is why we're here."

Alex didn't know what to say. To think about someone he'd respected, even feared at some points, as a man struggling to be sober—to think about the Chief of Surgery becoming like Thatcher Grey—shook him to his foundations. It reminded him too much about his own childhood, his own father's futile battle with alcoholism. "You said you might need my help?"

"Right, I told Richard to call me whenever he felt like he needed a drink," Addison continued. "If he calls, I'm going to make every effort to drop everything and be with him. If that happens, I'll need you to cover for me."

"Of course," Alex agreed. He'd never helped his father. He just beat him up and walked away.

"And if he calls and I physically can't get to him, I'll need you to cover for me then, too," she revealed tentatively. _God, I haven't even been back a day, and I'm already asking huge favors of my ex…intern,_ Addison thought incredulously, beating down the swarm of emotions that threatened to break out of the tiny little box she'd made for him in her mind.

There it was. There was her hesitation. She still didn't know whether or not she could trust him. _Not that I've really given her a reason to trust me,_ Alex remarked in disgust. "I'll do it," he said with resolve.

**8D**

"Hey, Joe," Addison called out as she entered the bar. The big, friendly barman whipped around at hearing a voice he hadn't heard in a year, and an ecstatic grin came to his face.

"Addison," he greeted warmly. He walked out from behind the bar and enveloped her in a tight hug. "How are you? What are you doing here?"

"I've been good," the redhead smiled into the hug. "I'm taking a little vacation, so I thought I'd come up and be a surgeon for a while." She pulled away from the hug and took in the bartender. "You look great, Joe."

"Come, come, sit down," he offered, pulling out a chair at a table. Only then did he notice Alex standing there, floating around near Addison. "Sorry, Alex, I didn't see you there."

"Hey, Joe," the resident responded. A flash of curiosity came to Joe's bright blue eyes as he looked back and forth between the two.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Addison's face suddenly became much more grave. "I need to ask you something, Joe," she stated.

"Okay," he answered slowly.

"Has Richard been asking you for club sodas lately?" Realization hit Joe like a ton of bricks, and as he sat down across from Addison, he nodded. She leaned forward upon confirmation, and a sense of urgency entered her voice. "Next time he asks for a club soda, I need you to promise me that you'll give him _real_ club soda and then call me, okay?"

A somber smile came to Joe's face as he nodded once more. "Of course, I will. It's nice to know that you're helping him."

"Thank you, Joe, so much," Addison expressed. She stood up and said, "We have to get back to work, but it was great to see you. I'll come by soon for an _actual_ visit."

After they said their goodbyes, Addison and Alex exited the bar and waited to cross the street to go back to the hospital. Alex turned his head to look at his boss. "How long do you think it'll take for him to sober up?"

"I don't know," Addison answered honestly. "But I'm not leaving until he's better, and if that means I'm here for another year, then I'll be here for another year."

Alex kept quiet after that, but as they crossed the street, there was a small part of him that started to glow with elation.

**A/N: This seriously took me the better part of, well, all day to write, so I genuinely hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget I'm still suffering from the cold from **_**Hell**_**, but I think I found a cure. I think you know what that cure is, but in case you don't, the cure is that you REVIEW!**


	3. Nerds and Jocks

Better Together

A **Grey's Anatomy** fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Chapter 3: Nerds and Jocks

**A/N: So I've been shamelessly reading fic after fic, and I felt extremely guilty for not updating a story. I mean, I've updated Forever, but **_**other**_** stories. All my non-Addie fics have really fallen to the wayside, and I hate that. Anyway, hopefully this will start a writing craze for me.**

All that week was devoted to Addison and Alex subconsciously relearning each other's nuances and work habits, both old and new. Addison was pleased to see Alex responding better to their patients than he had three years ago. He smiled more often when talking to nervous mothers-to-be, and he very patiently walked them through procedures so they could relax. He had really grown as a physician, she observed.

Alex wasn't normally so warm with his patients, but something about the redhead's return had him smiling more and taking the time to show her he wasn't a hotheaded intern anymore. He basked in her considering looks, but he himself marveled at her effortless ability to put the patient at ease with simply a smile. He'd felt the effect of that smile time and time again, the most recent being when she told him it was nice to have her assisting him again on her first day back.

Already, he'd gotten to scrub in more with her in this one week than he had in a month under Mark Sloan, the go-to plastic surgeon in the country. In surgery, he was constantly awestruck by her skill, which hadn't diminished a bit since her venture into sunnier skies. He recalled one conversation they'd had in one surgery on a baby with a collapsed windpipe on her third day back.

"Alright, everything's ready. Stent, please," Addison requested, holding out her hand to receive the small tube. As she set to placing it in the baby's tiny trachea, she said, "I'm impressed, Karev. You were always good in my specialty, but your surgical skills have improved dramatically."

Thanking the surgical mask for covering the far from manly blush staining his cheeks, Alex kept his eyes on the surgical field and replied, "Thank you, Dr. Montgomery, although I must admit, I haven't really had much practice with neonate since you left."

Sparing him a single glance, Addison admired the way he had learned to be confident in the OR. Even after three years, he still anticipated her needs and always met her halfway in surgery. "Understandable. There hasn't really been anyone here to teach you. You don't seem to have suffered for it, though."

Once again, Alex murmured, "Thank you." They stayed silent for a few minutes, focused solely on the baby. The stent was in, and now everything just had to be checked and closed. "Do you get to do this often in LA?" he found himself asking.

"What, be a surgeon?"

"Yeah."

Alex looked up for a moment, and he got the impression that she was shrugging, even though she couldn't physically without harming the baby. "Not as often as I would like," she admitted. "It's a lot more patient contact, which I do enjoy, but I do miss just working in a hospital and spending most of my day in an OR." Everything was good to go, and all they had to do was close. Some surgeons preferred to overbook themselves and rush off to another surgery at this point, leaving the surgical staff to close, but not Addison. She had seen the scars left behind because of sloppy surgical staff, and she was more than skilled at closing with minimal scarring. She never left a baby in the OR until he or she was ready to leave, and the only time she left someone to close a mother was when she had to help the baby or got an emergency page and could hand it off to someone she trusted. "I have privileges at the hospital there, but I never need to go there more than once a week."

"If I only got to operate once a week, I would be so sloppy," Alex commented. "I'd be a danger to the patient, but you're just as skilled as ever."

This time, the surgical mask hid Addison's blush at the compliment. "A lot of nights, if I don't have anything better to do, I'll go to the skills lab at the hospital and practice the routine procedures, and I make a point of reviewing one complicated procedure every night before I go to bed."

Alex couldn't help it. "Nerd," he teased lightly.

Addison rolled her eyes at the resident. "If it wasn't for my nerdiness, I probably wouldn't even be here now," she pointed out. A smirk formed beneath her surgical mask. "And something tells me you were a jock in high school. Nerds always end up your bosses with time, and oh, look! I'm your boss."

Alex looked up and caught her eyes as they shared a moment of amusement, both brown and blue sparkling with mirth.

**8D**

Friday afternoon, Addison stood at Baby Brickman's isolate in the NICU, gazing down at the little girl and stroking her soft cheek. Her head was propped up on her other arm, which rested on top of the isolate. Of all the parts that she missed about working in a hospital instead of a private practice, staring at newborns was the one she missed the most. She could lose herself in her thoughts as she watched them sleep, innocent and blissfully ignorant of the world around them.

The sound of footsteps, which halted abruptly, made her lift her head and look over her shoulder to where Alex stood leaning against the doorframe. "Hey," she greeted softly.

"Hey," he answered in a low voice. Pushing off the doorframe, he came to stand beside her and allowed himself a fond smile for Amy.

Addison saw the smile from the corner of her eye and couldn't help but glow inside. "I'm proud of you, Karev," she announced, getting his attention.

"Why?" A small laugh escaped with the word, as if he didn't believe he'd achieved anything.

Looking back at the baby, Addison once again propped her head on her fist and resumed stroking Amy's cheek. "You're letting yourself bond with your patients, even the little ones," she observed. "I only saw you do that once in all the time you were my intern."

Alex's eyes looked inward, knowing exactly the baby she was thinking of. Little Laura Grey-Thompson was definitely a turning point in both his career and his personal life. She made him learn to value this specialty, and she bore witness to a very intimate moment between him and the woman standing not two feet away from him.

"I don't know if that's really anything to be proud of," Alex shrugged sheepishly, distracting himself by putting his finger in Amy's tiny hand. He never did take this kind of genuine praise well.

"Why not?" Addison looked up at him, raising her head from her arm.

"I don't usually bond with patients even now," Alex confessed. "Amy was the exception because she reminded me so much of…Laura." Addison's breath caught for a split second before she returned to normal. She had the nagging suspicion that he hadn't been going to say Laura originally. "I've been in a better mood since you've been here, and I wanted to show you I'd grown up."

"Why is that?"

When Alex turned his head to look her dead in the eye, Addison forgot to breathe completely. An incredible sense of déjà vu swept over her as she saw the intensity of his gaze. "Because I've missed you," he whispered.

It was three years ago down to the tee. Just like three years ago, in front of a baby Laura Grey, Addison felt her eyes drop to Alex's lips, and, in front of a baby Amy Brickman, she let herself lean in. Alex, too, was astounded by how familiar this situation felt, but he couldn't help himself from stepping just a bit closer and lowering his head.

They brushed lips. That was it. They let their lips lightly touch each other, but that was more than enough contact to send jolts of electricity down both their spines. Addison's eyes slid closed and felt a small smile spread on her face as she cocked her head and savored the moment. This definitely hadn't happened three years ago.

Alex slid his hand around her waist and pulled her closer, not letting her run away this time. He brushed his lips against hers again, leaving a whisker of space between them when they separated. Feeling more confident that she hadn't withdrawn, he kissed her again, this time applying more pressure.

A light, fluttering feeling arose in Addison's stomach, and her arm slid off the isolate to gently hold onto the back of his arm, which possessively, tenderly held her to him. Turning her head in the other direction, she responded to the kiss affectionately. This wasn't one of those kisses that made her weak at the knees or left her all hot and bothered. This was one of those kisses that left a small, smoldering glow in her chest, that would leave her all smiles and thinking about it for the rest of the day.

The sound of a throat clearing unfortunately brought an end to the sweet exchange, and upon seeing a stern Richard Weber in the doorway, quickly untangled themselves. Addison tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear, unable to suppress the flush that had risen to her face.

"Hello, Richard," she said unsteadily, hearing a murmured, "Chief," from the man standing beside her.

Richard's arms were crossed, and he was doing his fatherly intimidation tactic, where he made his eyes bore into Alex's head as if trying to discern his intentions toward Addison by sheer telepathy. Secretly, he was almost glad he walked in on them. He'd needed a distraction when he found his mind wandering toward alcohol, and he came to find Addison to keep his mind occupied. This was definitely more than he bargained for, but it would work. "My office, now," he growled.

**A/N: So what do you think? I really like the second half of the chapter. I don't know what it is about lately, but I always end up liking the second half of my chapters more than my first half. Whatever. Which half do you prefer? REVIEW!**


	4. Guilt and Growing Up

Better Together

A **Grey's Anatomy** fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Chapter 4: Guilt and Growing Up

**A/N: So I just looked at the last time I updated this and hung my head in shame. I am **_**so**_** sorry for taking almost a year to get this next chapter up! I have realized how much of a problem my storyline ADD has become, and so I'm slowly but surely chipping away at how many multi-chaps I have going right now. Hopefully, that'll make my updates so much more regular. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Sweat seemed to be coming out of Alex's every pore. Richard Weber-the _Chief_-had just walked in on him having (and very much enjoying) an incredibly intimate moment with his boss, who just happened to be like a daughter to the doctor currently glaring at him from his seat behind his desk. Addison, whom Alex could see from the corner of his eye, seemed relatively unfazed. But then again, the Chief wasn't glaring at _her_.

_Of course, she's calm, idiot,_ Alex reprimanded himself. _It's not like _her_ job is on the line here._

It was true. Everyone knew Richard was too over the moon that Addison was back working for him-at least for a little while-to do anything that might drive her away.

Hence the death glare being directed at Alex and Alex alone.

"Dr. Karev," the Chief started after what felt like a decade of silence to the resident. "I'm not going to yell at you for getting involved with your boss, what with the obscene amount of lawsuit-worthy bedhopping going on around here." Alex let out a relieved sigh- "But I _am_ going to yell at you for jeopardizing your working relationship with Dr. Montgomery less than two weeks after Stevens left you with divorce papers." -too soon. "This is far from the appropriate time to get romantically involved with _any_one. Rebound relationships only end up painfully, and I will _not_ have you chase away Dr. Montgomery."

Alex wanted so badly to let his jaw drop as he continued to listen to the Chief of Surgery lecture him on all the negative consequences that could come from him using the woman sitting beside him as a rebound from his failed marriage. Romantic advice coming from a boss who had scared him on multiple occasions was more than disconcerting.

But, Alex thought as guilt began to pool in his stomach, did he have a point? Was it too early to pursue Addison? He didn't want to chase her away again. Would starting something now eventually send her running back to LA?

* * *

As Alex and Addison walked out of Richard's office and stopped in the middle of the bridge, the former was completely overridden with guilt. He'd been insanely stupid in the NICU. He hadn't thought about just how easily starting something and messing it up could push her away. He hadn't thought about how he'd put them in a similar situation three years ago and how he _did_ make her leave then. He hadn't thought.

"I'm sorry." The sound of Addison's voice ripped Alex out of his reverie.

"About what?" he asked, genuinely confused. It should have been him apologizing to her, not the other way around.

"About Richard spending the last twenty minutes scolding you. It was my fault, and I'm sorry about that," she explained as she glanced out the giant glass window they faced.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her sometimes annoying sense of professionalism, Alex turned towards Addison and gently nudged her to follow suit. "You have nothing to apologize for," he insisted, looking directly into that clear blue gaze. "But I do." Alex took a deep breath. He could only hope that the damage to their relationship hadn't already been done. "I never once thought of you as a rebound, but the Chief made you realize that, if I continued any kind of romantic relationship with you right now, you would be. And I really don't want that. I've missed you more than I realized, and I don't want to hurt you and make you leave again just because I couldn't wait to get over my divorce."

Addison's eyebrows climbed more and more into her hairline with every passing word, but she didn't respond when he quieted. The silence between them stretched for a good 30 seconds before Alex couldn't take it anymore. "Please say something," he all but begged.

A small, almost proud smile made its way onto the redhead's face. "You really have grown up, haven't you?"

Blushing, Alex dropped his gaze and mumbled something about how he didn't feel like he had. Honestly, at that moment, he felt like a bumbling teenager. How was that growing up?

Addison merely shook her head. "Three years ago, you would have just come up with some lame excuse and claimed you weren't interested." The fact that he had done that exact thing twice three years ago went unsaid, though both were thinking it. She stuck out her hand as an offering. "Friends?"

Alex nodded and shook the proffered hand. He made sure to drop her hand within the appropriate time frame for friends. None of the lingering touches they'd bandied back and forth all week would fly now. "Thanks for being so cool about all of this."

Addison shrugged. "I get it, you know? I went through the same thing with Mark, only I didn't step away when I should have." She took one look at Alex's somewhat disbelieving face at her utter calmness and laughed. "Maybe some of that zen crap Pete's always talking about actually sunk in."

They began to walk off the bridge in decidedly lighter spirits than they had been in when crossing that same bridge just half an hour beforehand. Just as they reached the hallway, Alex asked, "Who's Pete?"

Possibly for the first time, Addison actually told him about some aspects of her life in LA. On their way to the NICU, Alex heard about her close friendship with the alternative medicine practitioner, about how they took care of each other no matter what drama went on in the office, about how they remained close even after he moved to the other practice in their building. "We have a no judgement friendship, which was kind of a godsend this past year."

"Why do you say that?" Alex pressed. He itched to ask her if she had feelings for this guy, the way she went on about him, but their friendship was too new to allow jealousy into the mix.

Addison waved away the question. "I felt like I was living in a soap opera, it got so out of hand. But it's too long to tell you right now. We have charts to sign."

By "we," she meant _he_ had charts to sign. No sooner had they reached the NICU that she handed him a pen and bid him to have fun. She had an early dinner date with Callie and Bailey to get to.

* * *

Three women sat around a table in the middle of the deli next door to Joe's bar, giggling every few minutes as they caught up with each other and heard each other's anecdotes from the past year. Were anybody from their work to have seen them, they would have wondered if they were hallucinating, because, as fair as their co-workers knew, Addison Forbes Montgomery, Callie Torres and Miranda Bailey did _not_ giggle. At the hospital, they were more often seen with stern expressions, considering the fact that they always seemed to stumble upon the lazy interns or gossipy residents.

But outside the hospital, the three surgeons could not have looked more carefree. Even Addison, given all the drama in her life lately, thought it was weird. Not that she was complaining.

"God, I've missed you guys," she sighed as she sipped her water.

"You? I've missed watching people suddenly become productive as soon as they hear your heels from down the hall," Callie laughed. "I forgot how amusing that was."

Addison shrugged. "I don't know why. I only called out one person, and that was only because he was hitting on me instead of filling out his charts."

Bailey shook her head. "I swear, Avery is just like Karev used to be as an intern."

"Down to the cockiness," Callie agreed.

"Who knows? Maybe you'll rub off on Avery, too," Bailey prompted.

Something in the tone of her voice had Addison treading carefully. "What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"I already told you how much you influenced Karev, and that I think he'll end up following in your footsteps," Bailey explained. "You really got him to calm down and turned him onto the path to becoming an excellent surgeon."

"And you think it would be the same way with Dr. Avery," Addison extrapolated, eliciting two decisive nods from her friends. Hesitation laced her voice as she shook her head. "I'm not sure I would want to repeat that."

"Why not?" Bailey paused in eating her sandwich in favor of watching her friend pick tentatively at her Caesar salad.

_Because I fell for Alex, and he broke my heart and made me move to LA,_ the redhead itched to answer, but the truth was obviously not going to fly well with Bailey. Deciding to leave out the more pertinent-and incriminating-details, she said, "Because I don't want to go back to being the person I was three years ago. I would like to think I've grown at least a little since then." She studiously avoided Callie's gaze, knowing her best friend knew her words were maybe a quarter of the actual reason for not wanting Avery to be just like Karev.

"I don't think that would make you go back to being the person you were three years ago."

"One Karev at a time is more than enough, Miranda," Addison responded dryly. "I'm already acting like I used to when I was his teacher. I'd rather not regress anymore."

Callie remained silent, mulling over her friend's words as she watched said friend attempt to change the subject without rousing Bailey's interest overmuch. She had no doubt Addison would be able to get through to Avery like she had with Karev, but she understood her reluctance to do so. What had Callie curious was what had happened since her best friend's return to Seattle. _Already acting like she used to?_ kept floating around in Callie's mind, and it's all she could focus on.

Finally, Addison had had enough. "Miranda, while I am flattered by your vote of confidence in my abilities to teach and tame cocky interns, it's not what I came back to do. I came back to find my replacement. I'm here for a month," she declared. _Provided Richard manages to stay sober without my help_, she added on silently. "I'm not hear for half a year, which is how long it took for me to get through to Karev."

Disappointed, Bailey backed down. "Fine. I guess that's true, although I still think you should stay here for good."

"Agreed," Callie interjected.

Addison rolled her eyes. "I feel like we have this conversation at least once a day."

"Be happy you're loved," Callie suggested, patting Addison on the arm and earning a fond smile. Soon, the three were giggling once again about Hunt's singing at the Christmas party.

* * *

Alex had just finished signing all the charts when Christina Yang poked her head into the NICU. The intimidating resident had a suspicious smile on her face, as if she knew she was about to learn some extremely valuable gossip.

"What do you want, Yang?" Alex asked disinterestedly, standing up and checking on the preemies.

"Why were you and Addison in the Chief's office?" the Asian resident pried, coming fully into the NICU.

Had she not been looking for some kind of reaction, Christina would have missed the way Alex froze in his movements for half a second before continuing to check Baby Carver's heartbeat. But she had, and she saw. Her smile widened, looking like an Asian Cheshire Cat. "Well?"

Alex's mind was racing to come up with anything other than the truth. Not only would telling her that the Chief walked in on them kissing thoroughly embarrass the both of them, but that news would also eventually make its way back to Izzie. Even if she _was_ the one who left without any regards for _his_ feelings, hearing that her soon-to-be ex-husband had already moved on less than two weeks after being served with divorce papers would have hurt her-a lot. "Um," he scrambled for something believable, "he just wanted to touch base with us about the preemie I saved to weeks ago. Her mother is being discharged soon and wants to know when she can take her home."

"Hm," Christina pretended to consider the validity of his answer. "I don't believe you."

A sigh escaped Alex's mouth. "Sorry to break it to you, but not everything in the world exists based solely on the fact that you believe it does."

Christina waved off the snarky comment. "What are you up to?"

"What are you talking about?" Alex kept his eyes trained on Baby Caver, not wanting the other resident to see the lie in his eyes.

"Why won't you just tell me why you and Addison were talking to the Chief?" Christina demanded.

God, she was persistent! "I already told you, Christina. It was just an update on Baby Brickman, nothing else."

"Then why won't you look at me?" Christina retorted, victory ringing in her voice. She had him cornered now. He'd have to tell her the truth.

But her victory was celebrated too soon, for Alex was saved from any further questioning by possibly the sweetest sound on the planet at that moment in time: his boss's voice. "Ah, coming to join Dr. Karev on my service, Dr. Yang?" Addison greeted as she squeezed past the resident into the NICU.

"Um, no, Dr. Montgomery," Christina denied, suddenly quite respectful.

"Then I would appreciate it if you wouldn't harass my resident, Dr. Yang," Addison declared sternly. "Especially when you should be assisting Dr. Altman in the bypass surgery she's scrubbing in for right now."

Christina was out of the NICU and down the hall in two seconds flat.

"Thank you so much," Alex breathed. "She wouldn't leave me alone."

Addison shrugged. "No problem. What was she bugging you about, anyway?"

"Gossip," he growled slightly, causing his boss to quirk an eyebrow at him. "Uh, so how was dinner?"

The next ten minutes consisted of both of them practicing their skills at half-truths and avoiding the issue of their pushy and persistent friends. Addison pretended as if she hadn't been urged to turn Jackson Avery into another Alex Karev success story, and Alex pretended as if he hadn't just been interrogated about why they had been seen sitting in the Chief's office. And they both pretended that they were completely fine with just being friends. They pretended so well, in fact, that they even fooled themselves for those ten minutes.

**A/N: This felt like a weird chapter for me. I can't decide if I like how it turned out. Anyway, I am so sorry, once again, for taking so long to update this! Please don't take out your anger on me by not reviewing. Reviews are my lifeline. Without them, I drown in a sea of jumbled words. So please, keep me alive and REVIEW!**


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